Tears and Triumphs
by em's-imagination
Summary: What happened after the end of Dead Man's Chest? Did they find Jack? oneshot, WE.


Will stared at Elizabeth as she stared into the water, tears filling her eyes and spilling over onto her cheeks. He ached to hold her, to kiss those tears away, but he held back. After what he had seen between her and Jack, he wasn't sure she would want him to hold her. They were supposed to be engaged, Dammit! What had happened? Did she not love him anymore? Was she in love with Jack now?

A week later as they sailed towards the end of the earth, captained by Barbossa, Will found Elizabeth yet again staring at the water, her hands resting lightly on the weathered wood of the ship's railing. He stood next to her, hesitating, not quite knowing what to say. She sighed deeply as a tear rolled down her cheek. Instinctively, he brushed it away. No sooner than his hand caressed her cheek, more tears began to fall, until she was sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

"It was my fault, Will. I killed him."

Will stroked her hair, making soothing noises, as his mind raced. Who was she talking about? Jack? Surely not. She hadn't killed him. He had elected to stay behind. What had she done, and to whom? After a little while, her sobs subsided and she began to breathe steadily again. She turned her tear-stained face towards him and looked deep into his eyes. He couldn't stand it any longer.

"Are you in love with Jack?"

Her look of sorrow turned to confusion as the words left his mouth.

"Why would you ask such a question? I'm in love with you. We're engaged, Will. That doesn't just mean nothing to me."

"But you were kissing Jack. I saw you, before we fled the pearl." He was almost whispering now, afraid of causing her more heartache. To his horror, she started to cry again.

"It was a trick, Will. I tricked him. I kissed him to distract him while I chained him to the ship. The Cracken wanted him, not the ship. If he had come with us we would all have been killed. I chained him to the ship and he was devoured by the Cracken. I killed him." The tears were once again flowing freely. She flung herself into will's arms, sobbing into his chest as his strong arms held her tightly. She had killed jack. Will couldn't believe it. She had killed him, the man who had, on more than one occasion, saved both their lives.

It was some time later that Elizabeth and Will sat silently on deck, hands laced together, staring out into the inky black night. Elizabeth looked across at Will, his head bowed, seemingly memorizing the wood grain. She brushed a stray hair off his face and he looked up at her.

"I do love you Will. I promise you. I was never in love with Jack. You're my world."

He smiled faintly.

"I know. I think I knew it all along, but I was just scared. I'll never doubt you again." At this he cupped her chin lifting her face up to his and captured her lips in a kiss. Just then they were rudely interrupted by Barbossa.

"Come on, there is work to be done!"

They stood; hands still linked and stared at him.

"We're supposed to be sleeping. We don't have to work when we're sleeping."

"Aye, but you're not sleeping, so you're going to do some work before I throw you both off the ship or maroon you on a island."

Will simply stared at him for a minute. He knew Barbossa wasn't joking. He hated the whole lot of them and was waiting for a chance to get rid of some.

He was still deep in thought when Elizabeth squeezed his hand and said

"Yes Cap'n, what would you like us to be doing?"

For the next 6 hours they worked while everyone else slept. Once the others awoke, they were hoping for a rest. But to no avail. They worked all that day and Will could see Elizabeth was becoming quite tearful due to the exhaustion. The first opportunity he had , he gave her a quick kiss and held her tightly for a minute. She sighed heavily and he knew she wouldn't last much longer. Fortunately for both of them, they were soon allowed to sleep. They crawled into their hammocks along with everyone else and soon the air around them was filled with snores. Will fell asleep almost instantly, but was awakened a short time later by Elizabeth climbing into his hammock. This wasn't the first time this had happened and he sleepily wrapped his arms around her and held her as they both fell into a deep slumber.

They got up the next morning and continued to work as they had been the day before. They were barely getting a chance to talk, and now that their nighttime strolls had been vetoed due to Barbossa's hatred of them, they had to be content with spending their nights together, curled up in each other's arms.

This continued for quite some time, until one day they heard Barbossa shout that they were approaching their destination. The end of the earth was a frightful place and Elizabeth cowered behind Will as they heard the screams that seemed to be coming from within the mist. She looked into it, and the first thing she saw was Will. But how could that be? He was standing right next to her. She became aware that he was standing in the mist but she shrieked as she got a better look at him. He was covered in blood and his skin was deathly pale. He raised an arm and she noticed that it was sliced almost in half as blood dripped from it. She screamed again and turned away. She couldn't bear to look. As she turned she saw Will in front of her. Not bleeding, not dead, just him as he always was. What was happening here? She heard Barbossa laugh as she buried her face in Will's chest.

"Aye missy, there are things in these waters that are real then there are things in these waters that your imagination creates. Your worst fears are in that mist, and they will surface one at a time until you are driven mad." He laughed again as he walked away. Elizabeth looked up at Will fear all over her face. He smiled gently at her.

"Don't take any notice of the mist. Don't look at it if something starts to appear. It'll only upset you." His strong arms around her were comforting and she began to calm down. So she simply had to avoid looking into the mist. Which was awkward, seeing as it surrounded them on all sides, but she would do her best.

Three hours later, Elizabeth sat silently below deck, while everyone but Ragetti was out in the mist, searching for Jack. Ragetti was on deck, still working, but Elizabeth sat below deck, alone with her thoughts. She hoped they would return soon, she feared for Will's safety. She knew he could handle himself in any situation, but his worst fears were in that mist. She knew most of what he feared, and she didn't want him to succumb to those fears and lose himself in them. She just wanted him back with her. She also needed to see Jack. She needed to apologise to him. She didn't regret saving the lives of the crew, but she still felt terrible guilt about her betrayal of Jack. She heard, for the third time in as many minutes, Ragetti's wooden eye rolling across the deck and his heavy footsteps chasing it. She rolled her eyes and muttered to herself. That man was worse than useless. Just then she heard something else. Something she hadn't heard in a little while. She heard singing. Jack singing. Her heart leapt. They had found him. As she listened more closely, she also heard other voices, mingling with his. She hurried up to deck. She saw shadowy figures moving towards her through the mist, the voices and shapes getting closer. She could now hear Gibbs, and Barbossa. She listened harder and made out every voice. Everyone was there. Except one. She couldn't hear Will. Had they lost him? Had the mist consumed him? Her chest felt tight, she couldn't breathe. Was he there? She strained her eyes, searching for faces in the mist, but they were still merely shadowy figures. But they were moving closer, and it couldn't be too long before they reached the ship. At last she could see their faces. They were rowing towards her in the long boat and she desperately searched their faces, looking for the one she had dreamed of since she was twelve years old. She couldn't see him. Her breath caught in her throat and she once again couldn't breathe.

The pirates rowing towards her stopped their singing as they saw her fall to deck. They began to row harder, calling out to Ragetti to help her, but he was either unable, or unwilling to hear them. They at last reached the ship and raced up the ladder. Gibbs was the first to reach her. He splashed her face with water, and she sat bolt upright, staring wildly around.

"Where is Will? What happened to him?"

"Relax, love. He's on his way." Jacks voice soothed her for some reason, yet she couldn't look at him. She didn't know what to say to him, so she remained silent.

"Aye, he is on his way. He's in the other boat." She relaxed slightly, hearing Gibbs clearly, yet somehow from far away. She knew she wouldn't breathe freely until Will was back on deck. She stood slowly and moved swiftly towards the starboard rail, the one that she now considered her and will's place. A few minutes later a cheer went up from the crew. Elizabeth turned to see her fiancée climbing over the side of the ship, completely drenched, looking as though he had swum, not rowed. Her face lit up, as did his when he caught sight of her. She ran to him and he caught her in his arms, pressing his lips to hers as she wrapped her arms around him. She poured every emotion she was feeling into that kiss. She never wanted him to leave her again.

Later that night, as they lay together in a hammock, he asked her what she had said to jack.

"Nothing. I couldn't say anything, I didn't know what or how to say it." He felt her tears as he placed a hand on her cheek. He held her tightly as, once again, she wept into his chest. Some time later they both fell asleep, and stayed asleep until 6am when they were tipped out of their hammock. They looked up at the figure standing above them and saw Jack grinning down at them. Will heard Elizabeth gulp and he placed a protective hand on her arm. Jack continued to grin at them while they got to their feet. Elizabeth laced her fingers with Will's and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"how you been, Love? since you tricked me and chained me to my own ship to be eaten by a beastie and lost in that bloody mist for months. Eh?"

will glanced at Elizabeth and saw that her eyes had filled with tears again. He had hoped that Jack, being the type of person he was, would have forgiven Elizabeth. Apparently not. But at that moment, Jack's face split into a grin.

"Just joking, love. I'm over it. You were doing what you had to do. One of those moments where you have to do the right thing. Savvy?" Will began to laugh, and after a minute Elizabeth joined in, all traces of tears gone. The trio were back again, just as they had been before. They no longer had the pearl, but jack had mourned that loss and moved on. So they sailed back to Port Royal, for Elizabeth and Will to have their wedding.

2 months later they all stood in the sunlight watching Will and Elizabeth exchange vows. Governor Swann stood nearby casting nervous glances at the pirates every now and again. They sealed their vows with a kiss and were pronounced married. They turned to the crowd happiness etched on every inch of their faces. The wandered slowly back down the aisle, Elizabeth's beautiful ivory gown shining in the sun. the reception went wonderfully and a greet time was had by all. But beore they knew it, it was time for Jack and the crew to leave. The newlyweds stood on the dock, waving to the ship until it was out of sight, before departing to their new home for their long awaited wedding night.

THE END.


End file.
